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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26283118">zoo</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/revoleotion/pseuds/revoleotion'>revoleotion</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crack, Fluff, M/M, not a modern au but they're on earth, sympathetic Enric Pryde, zoo visit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:07:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,561</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26283118</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/revoleotion/pseuds/revoleotion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“30 years in exile and you did not pick up a book once?” Kylo asked but let out a painful little scream when Phasma slammed her elbow into his ribs. <br/>“I picked up plenty of books,” Pryde said with as much dignity as he could force into his otherwise very calm voice. <br/>“And yet you call a zebra a horse,” Kylo muttered, gentler this time to avoid more pain. </p>
<p>____</p>
<p>I have nothing to say about this. They visit a zoo. Pryde is an idiot. That's all.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>zoo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For Val.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Oh look, it’s a horse!” Enric Pryde said, his index finger pointing at what clearly was a zebra. A few seconds of silence later, Phasma made a small sound that could’ve been a laugh if it weren’t for Hux’ arm on her shoulder. </p>
<p>“That’s not a horse,” Hux said in a tone that was unusually soft. He had noticed this a few days back and now he couldn’t help himself. </p>
<p>“No?” Pryde asked. </p>
<p>“30 years in exile and you did not pick up a book once?” Kylo asked but let out a painful little scream when Phasma slammed her elbow into his ribs. </p>
<p>“I picked up plenty of books,” Pryde said with as much dignity as he could force into his otherwise very calm voice. </p>
<p>“And yet you call a zebra a horse,” Kylo muttered, gentler this time to avoid more pain. </p>
<p>“Either way, I like it.”</p>
<p>Hux hated that he felt something in his chest tingle at this. There was something innocent and childlike about the man, like he was forever stuck in the mindset of a child that just learnt about the Empire and was fascinated by it. Sure, Pryde had seen the horror of war but he always clung onto his memories like a lifeline. </p>
<p>“What’s it with you and horses?” Phasma asked. Hux noticed that she spoke a lot nicer than she’d usually would, and he honestly could not tell if she did this for him or out of fear of being murdered on the spot. </p>
<p>“I like horses a perfectly normal amount,” Pryde replied. For the first time he sounded offended. </p>
<p>“Great,” Kylo said under his breath.  </p>
<p>Hux would’ve attempted murdering the man on the spot if he ever did this to him. But Pryde was known for his ability to stay calm. He was so calm sometimes that Hux suspected he was secretly Force sensitive as well. Or his brain was just <em>different</em>, in a way that made it impossible for Kylo Ren to dig deep. (That was what he had heard about Grand Admiral Thrawn, that his mind had been so special that it was impossible for Force users to read.) </p>
<p>Perhaps it was petty to think of but Hux couldn’t stand being made fun of. He’d rather murder himself out of a room than accepting that someone laughed at his expense. Pryde wasn’t like that. Sure, he carried himself with a natural sense of dignity but he accepted his superiors without any protest. Hux who had spent his entire life despising and murdering his superiors found it difficult to believe you could just accept whatever they threw at him. </p>
<p>“Can we continue?” Hux asked.</p>
<p>Pryde stared at the zebras for a few more seconds, then he turned and nodded. It wasn’t fair to make fun of him, Hux thought, after all Phasma had spent ten minutes staring at penguins like she wasn’t able to accept that those animals really existed. She had also stopped to admire the lions and was very mad that they couldn’t see the lion cubs. Maybe Kylo had planned to be the babysitter of the group but he didn’t end up to be it. Pryde was, ever since he insisted on paying for their tickets and protected all their bags while they used the bathrooms. </p>
<p>“We saved the best one for last,” Hux said casually when he led them to the place he had eagerly awaited ever since they had set a foot into this zoo. </p>
<p>“Of course you did,” Phasma said but without any bitterness. Hux made the effort to smile towards her and almost forgot how to breathe when she laughed quietly. This was all he got with the helmet. </p>
<p>They weren’t forced to wear masks in this country on earth but because they were very confused by the different standards, they had made the decision to just wear a mask wherever they went. Hux’ mask was black with a tiny First Order symbol on it. Even though he felt like he was going to suffocate a lot of times, he refused to complain about it. He had survived Kylo Ren, if his fragile lungs couldn’t stand the pressure of a cloth mask, he seriously had to consider ending his life. Phasma had her helmet, of course, and ever since Kylo’s mask shattered, he had begrudgingly switched to a plain, black mask. (He had pulled it off his face when a child pointed at him and called him the name of a fictional superhero, at least that’s what showed up in Hux’ research while Phasma almost choked to death on her laughter. Pryde had refused to continue walking until Kylo put the mask back on.)</p>
<p>And then there was Pryde’s mask. Hux hated it. He hated it so much that he wished he could break into the man’s quarters when he wasn’t looking, locate the kriffing thing and tear it into a million pieces. It was a custom-made design from the man’s home planet, made from high-quality fabric. This wasn’t the problem. The problem was the horse-like creature on it, Hux had already forgotten the species’ name but he knew that it may be the reason for Pryde’s obsession with horses. And while Hux pretended like he found it adorable to spite his friends who openly made fun of it, secretly he wished he could allow himself to laugh along with Kylo. </p>
<p>“I look forward to seeing this,” Pryde said and, again, how could a man that was designed to humiliate Hux be this pure? Even Kylo had accepted that his plan had backfired. Sure, Pryde remained in a position that had been created to spite Hux but there was no bitterness in their interactions. Hux had no tragic past with Pryde, no matter how many people assumed that. Pryde just existed, a man with more odd interests than Hux was willing to count. Then again, he’d also do a lot of things with 30 years of freetime, things he wouldn’t even tell Phasma about. And she knew everything else, from his past to his nightmares to the parts of his body where Kylo had caused irreversible damage. He didn’t tell Kylo. Even when he got so mad that he wanted to burn the entire Order down. There were things he didn’t want the man to know and that was the fact that his destructiveness had reached his friends, the ones he cared about. Kylo Ren had killed his father to prove a point, but so had Hux. Hell, even Phasma had done that. Kylo lashing out at Hux had another taste to it and Hux was willing to deal with it alone. </p>
<p>Hux stopped at the huge dome that was home to Hux’ favorite animals in the entire zoo. He pushed open the door, used the disinfectant and stopped when a butterfly charged right at his face. </p>
<p>“Butterflies! You lead us here for butterflies?” Kylo asked. Unlike with Pryde, he didn’t bother masking how stupid he considered Hux to be to do this. </p>
<p>“No,” Hux said, not as calmly as Pryde would say it, “The butterflies are just an extra.”</p>
<p>“It says here that they have red cardinals,” Phasma said and pointed at a panel with birds and butterflies that could be found in this exhibit. </p>
<p>“Cardinal?” Kylo repeated, now obviously entertained. “Wasn’t that the man-”</p>
<p>“We all know who he is,” Hux hissed. </p>
<p>“I don’t,” Pryde said. </p>
<p>“And you don’t have to.”</p>
<p>Surprisingly, Pryde was okay with this. </p>
<p>“Birds and butterflies,” Kylo said under his breath. “I expected more of you.”</p>
<p>Hux didn’t allow himself to be offended. He moved past a few other visitors who were already staring at Phasma’s mask, ignoring a “you know you can take off your mask in here, right?” comment, and finally stopped at a bridge across the huge body of water. </p>
<p>“There. Look at it.”</p>
<p>Kylo rolled his eyes but a few seconds later he stepped next to Hux. </p>
<p>“Great. Water. And- stars, what’s that?”</p>
<p>“Is that a manatee?” Pryde asked with curiosity to his voice. </p>
<p>“You know manatees but not zebras?” Hux asked. </p>
<p>“Yes.”</p>
<p>Not sure what to feel about this, Hux pointed down on the huge animals swimming beneath them. </p>
<p>“Those are the parents and this baby has just been born last year,” he explained. </p>
<p>Agreeing nods from his friends, Pryde even leaned closer and chuckled when the presumably male manatee rose to the surface to inhale air. </p>
<p>“They’re wonderful,” Kylo whispered. With the same fascination Phasma had shown every wildcat, the same enthusiasm that had been in Pryde’s eyes when he had seen zebras in the distance. Kylo stood so still that a butterfly sat down on his hair. And he didn’t even notice it. </p>
<p>There was a reason Hux had accepted Kylo's apology when he finally came to his senses and realized what he was doing to the ones around him. </p>
<p>And when he looked at the man staring at the baby manatee, he knew exactly what that reason was. </p>
<hr/>
<p>Pryde offered to pay for the plush manatee Kylo found at the gift shop. He also offered to pay for the plush lion Phasma held between her fingers and refused to let go of. </p>
<p>“Do you want anything?” the older man asked Hux. </p>
<p>“No, I'm good,” he said and pretended like he didn't plan to buy a plush zebra the second Pryde wasn't looking. </p>
<p> </p>
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